Pacific softball shuts out Broncos twice

Sunday

Feb 21, 2010 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - With her first home run since her first at-bat as a freshman, Pacific senior Karie Wilson kick-started the Tigers' offense and led them to a two-game sweep of Santa Clara on Saturday at Bill Simoni Field.

Kevin Niendorf

STOCKTON - With her first home run since her first at-bat as a freshman, Pacific senior Karie Wilson kick-started the Tigers' offense and led them to a two-game sweep of Santa Clara on Saturday at Bill Simoni Field.

After losing their first four games of the season by a combined six runs, the Tigers shut out the winless Broncos 5-0 and 6-0. Wilson, a catcher, also threw out three baserunners in the opener before breaking open a scoreless game in the fifth inning with her two-run homer 210 feet to left field.

"It's the most comforting thing in the world when you have a solid catcher back there," said pitcher Shaina Brock, who earned a win in the first game. "She's so competent and it rubs off on the rest of the team."

Wilson said it's a confidence-booster to enter the win column after three one-run losses last weekend. However, she was just as surprised as anyone else when the ball cleared the fence.

"I'm not the typical home-run hitter," Wilson said. "I saw (the pitch) coming down the inside part of the plate and I just tried to keep a level swing on it. Sometimes it just happens."

Pacific coach Brian Kolze called Wilson's home run pivotal for the win.

"That was important because I really felt like that got the ball rolling for us the whole day," he said.

Alexa Rivera walked to lead off the inning and was bunted over by teammate Amy Moore. After Wilson's home run, the Tigers scored twice more in the inning for a 4-0 lead as Lindsey Pierce and Megan Hom crossed the plate. Both Pierce and Hom have five-game hitting streaks, with Pierce having at least two hits in each of the five games.

Brock took care of the rest, throwing a complete-game four-hitter while striking out seven.

"I didn't feel I had my best stuff today," said Brock, who walked five batters. "The biggest positive of the day for me was how my teammates picked me up. It's refreshing to know we can pull out a win when things aren't going our way."

In the third inning, Santa Clara's only threat to score ended when Tigers left-fielder Nikki Armagost threw out a Broncos runner at the plate. Kolze said he was just as impressed with his defense as he was with his team's 11 runs on the day.

"Today, they helped get themselves out of jams," Kolze said.

In the second game, the Tigers led 2-0 thanks to a first-inning single by Armagost that scored Pierce and Hom. Two more runs came in the third inning as Nicole Matson crushed a 250-foot homer to left, the 13th of her career.

The Tigers completed the scoring with two runs in the fourth when Matson singled in Pierce and Armagost drove home Matson.

Gabby McDaniel earned the win after giving up five hits and four walks. She struck out seven and induced a bases-loaded pop-up to herself in the fourth inning.